


A Kind of Magic

by appending_fic



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Case Fic, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Epic Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane, Mystery, Nightmares, Partnership
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-06-04 06:56:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6646795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appending_fic/pseuds/appending_fic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Called out to investigate a robbery, Nick and Judy find a daunting mystery, a thief who seemingly walks through walls and leaves no evidence. The echoes of their respective pasts fill the space between investigation, and old dreams weigh heavy on Nick as they consider if their perpetrator truly is doing the impossible...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Zootopia is Burning

Zootopia was burning.

Flames tore through structures with wild abandon, sending buildings crumbling to ash all around Nick. Plumes of smoke all but blacked out the sun, giving even the widest boulevards a horrid pallor, lit by multicolored fires. Each breath seared Nick's lungs and set him coughing from the trails of smoke lingering near the earth.

The collapsing buildings made it difficult to navigate, but Nick knew the streets well enough to see he was near Judy's apartment. Not close enough to see if it was still standing, but close enough to run there.

And Nick's chest seized with the need to find Judy (or maybe because he was being cooked from the inside). He exploded into a sprint, dodging around the melted remains of vehicles and the remnants of broken structures.

It took only a few minutes, but felt like hours, whether from his panicked state or the stress on his body.

When he got there, her apartment building was gone, a patch of scorched earth the only suggestion that anything had been there. Nick didn't dare pause, running to the empty space, wondering if maybe the basement had escaped damage, or anything that would give him a chance to find Judy.

The space was empty, though the patterns of burns suggested brick, metal fixtures, or other items might have fallen to the earth long enough to melt or vaporize. The blackened ground was radiating heat intense enough to contrast to the flames behind Nick. Slowly, Nick's hackles rose, and he turned.

Backlit by flames, a figure loomed over him. A deep growl shook Nick to his bones, and he knew there was nobody who could help him.

He woke with a gasp, fur slicked wet with sweat. His apartment was sweltering and stale, so he tossed his blankets aside and stumbled to the window. Even with the window open, however, Nick felt like he was being boiled alive. He dropped back onto his bed, a move he regretted instantly when he realized the mattress had been soaking up his body heat all night.

He pressed his paws against his sinuses, trying to block out the dim light of the streetlights outside, but it didn't seem to help. And that left one option.

Nick grabbed his phone from the side table, but paused, staring at it, before dialing. Sure, he and Judy got along fine, and she'd said to call anytime, but...Nick knew very few mammals that included three in the morning in their definition of 'any time'.

"Get it together, Wilde," he muttered. They were supposed to be partners - they were _probably_ friends, given that Judy'd come out to visit him at the academy a couple of times. And if they were friends...Nick had to decide whether Judy was the sort of person he could trust to mean what they said.

He tapped Judy's picture and the phone began to ring. Once, twice...Nick's chest tightened. And then it clicked.

"Hello? Who's this?" Judy's voice slurred a little, and Nick felt a twinge of guilt.

"Sorry, Carrots. I just-"

"Nick?" There was a pause. "Oh! I didn't even check the name. Good...morning, apparently. What's up?"

"I don't know. It's stupid."

There was a sound of movement, and Nick could imagine Judy sitting up in bed. "You never seemed the type to call someone at three in the morning for kicks. Come on, Nick, what's wrong?"

Nick sighed. "...Bad dream." He winced, waiting for the rebuke for behaving like a kit, scared of the dark.

"What about? It's not that whole thing with Bellwether, is it? I had nightmares where she actually got you with that Night Howler juice for a week."

"No. I...it's a nightmare I used to have when I was kit. Zootopia was on fire, and I needed to find...someone. And I couldn't, and, and-"

"Hey, shh." Nick took a shuddering breath. "That sounds terrible."

"Yeah. It used to freak me out, until my mom…" Nick bit his lip rather than continue _that_ story.

But Judy was a nosy rabbit who didn't know how to let things be. "Nick?"

"She told me if the fire scared me so much, I should be a firefighter. I joined the Scouts for practice."

"Oh." Silence reigned for a moment. "You're not leaving me for the fire department, are you?"

Nick snorted, chuckling despite himself. "After seeing the wild adventures the cops get up to? Nah."

"Try to get some sleep, Nick. I'll see you at graduation, and then we'll be partners!"

"Right. And Judy? Thanks."

"Any time."


	2. Chapter 1 - Open and Shut

"Morning, Carrots." Nick pushed a cup of coffee into Judy's paw. She gave him a wide grin before lifting the cup to her nose and inhaling deeply.

"Thanks, Nick. You're the best."

"I try. Anything's better than the crud they serve in your part of town."

"I thought terrible coffee was a fair tradeoff for running water."

"Ha ha." Nick nudged Judy toward Clawhauser's desk as they wove through the crowd of officers. "That was one week. And I think _anything_ is worth not having to listen to the Oryx-Antlersons going at it all hours of the night. Morning, Ben."

Clawhauser waved at Nick and Judy. "Morning, Nick, Judy. You're not having a tiff, are you?"

"No, just complaining about Judy's neighbors. I've stayed over _twice_. Never again."

"They're not that bad," Judy protested.

"I suppose contrasting shouts of 'No, _you_ shut up!' could be considered soothing white noise."

Judy shoved Nick's hip, sending him stumbling sideways. He caught himself on Clawhauser's desk, laughing. A squeak from Clawhauser drew Nick's attention up. The cheetah was grinning at them.

"I'm sorry. You two are just so...adorable! I've seen a lot of partners who're best friends, but you two…" He sighed. "It's sweet."

"Yeah." Nick grabbed Judy's arm and pulled her with him toward the bullpen. "Later, Ben!" Tail tucked between his legs, ears flat back against his head, Nick tried to keep Judy between him and...everyone. He ducked into the first door he saw, which proved to be an empty interview room, and dropped down with his back against the door. His heart was racing, and he might...be having a panic attack.

A paw began running along Nick's back. Judy was humming, and her other arm wrapped around Nick's shoulder. They held that position for several minutes, at least, until Nick's heart began to slow back to normal. He reached out and hugged Judy back before pulling away, wiping at his eyes, which had apparently been leaking at some point.

"Thanks."

"What-"

"For twenty years, Judy, I knew I couldn't trust anyone." Nick pulled his legs up to his chest and let his head fall onto his knees. " _Finnick_ didn't know where I lived. So it's a...little disconcerting to hear people...know stuff about me, and talk about me." He took a deep breath. "I stayed in bed for a week when the news about the Night Howlers came out. Just...seeing myself on TV made me feel...exposed."

"You can't…" Judy paused, scratching behind Nick's ears. "You were pretty good at the press conference."

"Press conferences are cons, Cottontail. You spend twenty minutes pretending you've got all the answers and refuse to answer direct questions." Nick waved vaguely before he paused and let his paw drop. "I should have let you know you were being saddled with a dysfunctional, anxiety-ridden fox for a partner."

Judy laughed, but squeezed Nick a little tighter. "It wouldn't change a thing. I love you, Nick Wilde, and that means you're stuck with me."

Nick's breath hitched a hair, still unused to hearing that. When Judy had first said it, he'd spent three days trying to make sense of it before Judy cornered him in his apartment and they had a proper talk. Judy seemed to think Nick had been freaking out thinking she was _interested_ in him, and had assured him she had no interest in romancing him. But no, the trouble had been trying to wrap his head around the idea of someone, at least someone without any obligation to do so, loving him. It was a hard claim to dispute, given that Judy would happily let him cry into her shoulder and never mention it again, so Nick hadn't even had the respite of pretending she didn't mean it.

And thinking that much about it, realizing he didn't just trust Judy with his secrets, but his vulnerabilities as well, he'd admitted he loved her, an admission well worth the effort it took to get it out when she'd just beamed at him.

It still left him feeling a little off-balance when Judy said the words, and he was glad she seemed to understand enough about him not to expose that vulnerability in public.

"Now come on, before people start thinking we're canoodling in here."

"Canoodling? Are we six?"

"Shut up." Judy stood and gave Nick her paw so he could follow. "Anyway, we've got three minutes until the morning briefing, so-"

"You're right; come on." Nick led Judy out of the interview room and down the familiar trip to the bullpen. They took their usual place at the front of the room, settling down on the same chair to wait for Chief Bogo.

After a few moments, Nick felt his hackles rising; remembering he'd had his breakdown in an interview room that had a _two-way mirror_ , he ducked his head, heat blossoming at the back of his neck. Judy squeezed his paw.

"You alright?"

Nick shrugged, paused, and stared down at their linked paws. He carefully let go and resisted the urge to duck lower. He wasn't _embarrassed_ to be seen holding Judy's paw. They dragged each other across town, both on duty and off, and never thought twice about it. It didn't mean thinking about his coworkers talking about it didn't leave him wanting to hide until the heat death of the universe.

Luckily, Chief Bogo's usual stomping arrival gave Nick something to distract him. The buffalo set a stack of papers on the podium in front of him and cleared his throat.

"Good morning. I'll make this brief. I understand Miko has invited us all to her birthday party this Friday. I would prefer we not repeat the media attention we attracted last year. I'd like us all to take a moment to congratulate Thabo for cleaning up the Savanna serial muggings." He paused, allowing for a round of applause and whoops. "Now, I'm going to expect updates on all active cases by the end of your shifts. You all know your patrol shifts, so get going. Hopps, Wilde, Redd, and Wintergreen, stick around. The rest of you go earn your paychecks."

The room entered quickly, leaving only Nick and Judy, and on the far side of the room, Louisa Redd, a cougar, and Finn Wintergreen, a pale bear.

Chief Bogo handed Finn a thick folder. "I need you two to pick up a suspected arson up near Kapok Street."

"Sir."

"And you two." Chief Bogo put a slender folder in front of Nick. "You get to check out a theft case."

"Aye-aye." Nick flipped open the folder. "Hey, fun. Jewel heist!"

Judy pulled the paper away before Nick could read more details, leaving him with the option of waiting for Judy to finish reading or fight with her over the case notes in front of Chief Bogo. So he sat back, arms folded, while he waited for Judy to finish.

"Hm. I think this place is near your apartment."

"Really?" Nick snatched it away from her. Indeed, the jewelry store, Venkat's Valuables, was just off Trip Street, a ten minute walk and one district border from Nick's home. He'd even seen the place a couple of times. "It's not exactly a high-class place."

"Classy or not, someone stole thousands of dollars of jewelry from them, so…"

"Right." Nick shut the folder and hopped to the floor, Judy at his heels. "Let's go fight crime."

Judy had driven the cruiser their first day out on patrol, and it had become habit for Nick to slide into the passenger's seat and let her take the wheel. It gave him the freedom to keep an eye on their surroundings and pinpoint trouble before it became...trouble. And he suspected Judy liked feeling bigger than she normally did.

"I'm going to be disappointed if this isn't actually a ring of international jewel thieves," Nick offered once they were on the road. "Because I feel our first time working together grossly misrepresented what the life of a law enforcement officer entails."

Judy snorted. "You didn't get into this job for the glamor, Nick."

"Though I do like the look." Judy smirked and pulled off Nick's sunglasses, tossing them in the back. He glared at her. "You're a cruel rabbit, Hopps."

She giggled. "You love me anyway."

"They'd never believe it at the station - a cruel, heartless bunny taking advantage of an innocent, lovestruck fox."

Judy replied with a grin that showed all her teeth, the attempt at looking dangerous making Nick laugh despite himself.

"In any case, let's take our bets. I say disgruntled employee."

"Mob connections," Judy said.

"Aw, please no. You _know_ I hate talking to Mr. Big during work hours. That whole 'avoiding mentioning things we _know_ but don't have proof about' thing is exhausting."

"Well now you're just worrying about hypotheticals. Let's take this case one step at a time. First off...oh, _crud_."

She swerved into an empty spot along the road and slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Nick into the windshield.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

"The _media's_ here."

Nick glanced up, trying to remember where Venkat's Valuables was, but that question was quickly answered by the crowd standing outside a neat storefront. An elephant towered over the group, making anxious gestures with her forepaws. Down below were...yes, Ed Burro, Arctos Bernstein, Katie Boaric, and others in the scrum. And there was-

Yep, Soledad O'Lion, trailed by a tan spotted mammal he couldn't quite identify, stalking toward the cruiser. Another photographer had quit, it seemed, unable to keep up with Soledad's relentless pursuit of the latest scoop.

"She's not that bad, Carrots." He did not mention how the lioness reminded him of Judy, driven by an inexhaustible inner fire, just for the _truth_ instead of justice.

"She just asks questions and needles until I say things I don't really mean and-"

"Hey. I've got your back." Nick patted Judy's shoulder to drive the point home. She relaxed a little, but her ears were still stiff and twitching, as if she were going into - ha - the lion's den. "Come on."

He slid out of the car and raised a paw at Soledad. "Hey, Lioness. You've got a determined little face on this morning."

Soledad gave Nick a toothy smile as she slowed, her photographer skidding to a stop behind her. "Nicholas Wilde, you charmer. I've got just a few questions-"

"You probably know more about this than I do; we just got here. Officer Hopps?"

"Coming!" Judy gave Soledad a wide berth as she crossed toward the jewelry store. Nick jogged after her, waving at Soledad.

"I'm never going to get over that for all the criminals you deal with on a regular basis, it's _reporters_ that scare you."

Judy snorted. "Let's just get to work. Excuse me, pardon me, ZPD." She threaded her way through the reporters and stopped at the elephant's foot. "Hello, I'm Officer Hopps. This is Officer Wilde."

"Oh! Thank goodness!" The elephant crouched down so she was...well, nose-to-eye with Nick. "I'm Venkat Huawo - I'm the owner."

Judy smiled, but it was forced, so Nick turned back to the media. "Look, we'll sit you all down and give some statements once we've had a chance to get the facts and look around. So if you can adjourn to Ray Ray's down the road? We'll be along shortly. Yes, Soledad, that means you." The reporters laughed and dispersed, even Soledad, though her photographer took a few shots of Nick and Judy before following.

Nick turned back to Judy and Ms. Huawo, offering a discreet thumbs-up to Judy when she gave him a gentle, thankful smile. "Now, Ms. Huawo, let's talk about what happened here."

She nodded, but was tapping her forepaws together nervously. "Well, you'd want to talk to Jeong - he opens on Tuesdays, so he found the place first." 

She gestured at a sleek black cat slouching against the door of the storefront. Where most animals picked clothing to complement their coats, or just didn't care, he'd opted for all black. A single fang jutted from his mouth, a warning or rebelliousness, or just refusing to bow to a world that made predators do everything they could not to look dangerous. Jeong met Nick's gaze and grinned before pushing himself away from the wall, still slouching so he was shorter than Nick.

Jeong held out a paw. "Morning, officer. How can I help?"

Nick shook it, because you always worked to get people in your favor before you started trying to get something out of them. "Well, why don't you start just telling us about what happened here?"

"Not much to tell. I got in around...seven, right?" Venkat nodded to confirm. "And the place was half-empty. Come on, I'll show you." He grabbed Nick's wrist, and only the familiarity he'd gotten with the touch from Judy's tendency to yank him along behind her kept him from snarling and taking his paw back. But after a step or two, he grabbed Jeong's fingers and pried them off.

He gave the cat a narrow smile - the polite one he was supposed to use when being berated by members of the public. "Please don't do that."

Jeong's eyes widened and he took a hurried step back. "Of course. I...anyway, come on. Please."

Venkat's Valuables was a large store, though there were ledges along the display cases to allow smaller customers - and employees, Nick thought, taking note of Jeong - access. Though a little old, it was clean, and neat, and Nick saw Judy behind them open her mouth, presumably to berate Jeong for interfering with a crime scene, and then her mouth snapped shut and ears went up and out when she saw it.

Because the place was _clean_. None of the display cases were broken, no glass on the floor. It might have looked like Venkat was just low on inventory, except for the slight disorder of some of the displays.

"Okay, two questions. First, was the door locked when you got here?"

Jeong exhaled, slumping forward. "No."

"And can you get me a list of employees?"

"I don't know about a _list_. It's Ms. Huawo, Reynard, and me."

"Okay, then how about you join me outside while Officer Hopps takes a look around?" He waved at Judy as he steered Jeong back outside. Venkat was on the phone - it sounded like she was arguing with her insurance company - so Nick sauntered most of the block away, close enough to close the distance if there were any nasty surprises.

"So just you, Venkat, and Reynard. Where's your third?"

Jeong shrugged. "She works in the evening. Nocturnal - a raccoon."

"Mhm. You don't mind if I take notes. It seems to irritate the chief that I think I can remember everything I hear."

Jeong shook his head.

"Good, good. So, how long have you been with Venkat's Valuables?"

"Ah - about three months."

"What do you do?"

"I - we all make sales. I run the place until Ms. Huawo shows up, and then I handle the counter."

"After three months?"

"I've got plenty of experience!" Jeong snapped. "My parents ran a nice place, and...Ms. Huawo's a nice lady."

"Alright," Nick said agreeably. "So who closed last night?"

"Usually Ms. Huawo. She stays late to do the books. But like I said, I work in the morning, so…" He shrugged again.

"When do you get off?"

"Not as often as I'd like." He grinned at Nick before freezing, ducking his head. "Sorry. That was-"

"I'm not going to arrest you for making an off-color joke. But my condolences, anyway."

Jeong lifted his head slowly; his ears were up, relaxed, and he was smiling again, that one fang visible again. "How about you?"

"Hm?" Nick's tail twitched of its own accord when it hit him. " _That_ qualifies as too much information for the moment, especially when we've got an interview to get through. So…"

"Oh, right!" Jeong grinned. "I'm usually done by four, head home, order takeout, watch television until I remember to go to bed or fall asleep, you know. The glamorous life of your average _felis silvestris_."

"And where do you live? Around here?"

"Ha! No, down in south Savanna. I used to have - well, I got a place down there when I first moved here."

"So, this morning…"

"Like I said, I got in around seven, walked in, saw the place looked empty. So I'm standing there, trying to figure out what's going on, and then I realized the door was unlocked. I called Ms. Huawo and I guess she called you guys…"

"Did you notice anything odd, besides the door? Anyone hanging around the place the last couple of days?"

Jeong shook his head. "Except...well you say. Nothing's broken in there."

"Mhm." Nick didn't continue, waiting. Some mammals couldn't handle silence, would talk just to fill it. Most people wouldn't expect it of a cat, but then they'd write off a valuable interrogation tactic out of prejudice.

"You don't think I did it, do you?"

"It's my job to find out. Is there anything you think I should know?"

"I don't think so. I mean...well, talk to Ms. Huawo about Reynard. They never got along well, but...I don't think Reynard would _steal_ from her."

Nick kept his face professional, but did make a note of it. Of course, in a situation like this, everyone would be trying to throw suspicion off themselves, but finger-pointing helped uncover potential motives.

"Thank you for your time, Jeong. We may be in touch if we have any more questions, but for now you're free to go." Jeong went straight toward Venkat, but Nick decided to let her stew a while, and to check up on Judy.

Judy was on one of the ledges, leaning up on the railing to peer at the ceiling.

"You think our perp's up there?"

"Ha. I was checking out the security cameras." Judy dropped back down, turning to face Nick. Her notebook was out and Nick could see scribbles on it.

"And what else did you find?"

Judy smirked and tucked the notebook behind her. "Something interesting, but I don't know why. You wonder why this place isn't cleaned out?"

"Well, depending on the size of our suspect, they might have left some of the bigger stuff-"

"Nope. I want to check the inventory list, but the jewelry that's left is silver, platinum, steel, jade...but no gold."

"That is...unnecessarily weird."

"I know!"

"No, you do not." Nick scrambled up the ledge, scanning the cases as he went. Most of the remaining jewelry was in place in their holders, with little gaps here and there. "As someone who...knows people who've fenced things, this sort of specialization doesn't make sense. It's _profitable_ to smash and grab. Closing up the cases after you've stolen from them is…"

"Weird?"

Nick let his shoulders slump. "Yes. Weird. It's like they were trying to cover it up, but it'd take a second to figure out there'd been a theft."

"Unless…" Judy turned her gaze toward the front window; Nick followed it and saw Venkat, still arguing on her phone. He felt a little surge of pride at the corkscrewed thought.

"My thoughts exactly. Insurance fraud doesn't mean you need to bust the place up. Come on, let's see what the elephant remembers."

Judy hopped to the floor, jogging toward the storefront. Nick followed more easily, but tapped her shoulder lightly; Judy looked back, slowed. Nick grinned and mouthed ' _patience_ '. Judy was great at listening, at asking questions that made it sound like she cared, but it was all straightforward earnestness. There were twisty bits there - _sly bunny_ \- but Nick was the expert.

"Hello again, Ms. Huawo."

The elephant paused in her tirade through the phone and peered down at Nick. "Oh! You can talk to the police-"

"Tch! No can do, I'm afraid. We'll get the preliminary police report to you in a couple of days, but until then, we're officially 'fact finding'."

Venkat narrowed her eyes, an effect ruined by the fact she was already squinting to focus on Nick and Judy. "You can just tell them I was robbed."

"Well, regardless of what's _happened_ , we like to take a shot at finding stolen property before writing the whole thing off. So if I can ask a few questions…"

Venkat hung up her phone with an angry poke and sighed. "Go ahead."

"Jeong told us the place was unlocked when he came in. Was it locked when you left last night?"

"I left Reynard to close up," Venkat said with a hint of a growl.

"Early night?"

"She usually closes up - nocturnal, you know. You said she left the door unlocked?"

"No, I said it _was_ unlocked. Do you stock gold jewelry?"

"What sort of a question is that?"

"I'm not certain yet. Do you?"

"Of course!"

"Hm. If that's the case, we'd like your help running inventory."

"What? Why?"

"Because only about half your inventory's gone, my partner can't find any gold in the place, and so we'd like to be clear whether someone was targeting your gold stock."

Venkat's ears flared out, her whole face crumpling together. "Well, certainly. Officer Hopps, I'll show you where I keep it. You, stay out here."

Nick had obviously been spending too much time around Judy, because his ears fell back and his tail twitched as Venkat turned her back on him, instead of letting the casual insult roll off his back. When the back door, just visible from the entrance, closed behind Venkat and Judy, someone stepped into Nick's personal space. He yelped and spun only to find Jeong slouching behind him.

"I see you've experienced Ms. Huawo's infamous charm."

Nick nodded, choosing his words carefully. "She seems to like Officer Hopps."

"Officer Hopps is an herbivore. Ms. Huawo thinks predators need to know their place." Jeong grinned, but it was all teeth, narrow, and didn't reach his eyes. "I was too good at what I do for her not to hire me. And as for Reynard...well, my money's on blackmail."

"Not good at the job?"

"Reynard mostly doesn't care." Jeong shrugged. "But that's what a hostile work environment gets you."

"Hostile?"

"It's not like she doesn't pay us or openly mocks us, but…" Jeong flashed Nick a hesitant glanced from his ducked head. " _You_ know, right?"

Nick let out a long breath. Some days it was almost easy to forget how some mammals saw predators, making the reminders like the disorienting jolt on waking from a dream of falling. "Yeah. I'd keep it from Officer Hopps, though; there's no sight quite like seeing a rabbit chew out an elephant over civil rights, but berating victims is bad press."

"Really?" Jeong's grin showed a few less teeth, and his hazel eyes widened a little. "Are you sure you couldn't just have her yell at Ms. Huawo a _little_?"

Nick couldn't withhold a snicker, but shook his head. "But look, if you run into any trouble, call me." He fumbled for one of the business cards the office had issued him when he'd started. The one he handed to Jeong was a little crumpled, but still good.

The cat scanned the number and grinned. "I might, at that."

The front door opened with a jingle. Judy, holding a sheaf of papers, led, followed by Venkat.

"Well, someone _definitely_ targeted your gold stock. Officer Wilde and I are going to call down our CSI team to help us get a closer look at this, and then we'll get out of your way for the time being. We'll get a preliminary report out to you tomorrow, but your insurance company isn't going to settle unless we determine there's little chance of recovery, and that might take a while."

"Well, I appreciate your candor and your assistance. Jeong, you're off for the day. Go take a nap or whatever."

Jeong rolled his eyes, winked at Nick, and slunk away. When Nick turned to Judy, she was staring after the cat, a considering look in her eyes.

"Well, we might as well call CSI so we can hurry up and wait some more."

Judy chuckled at Nick, but strode back toward the cruiser so they could make the call. "You're the boss, Wilde."


	3. Chapter 3

"My money's on Jeong," Judy said around a mouthful of her spiced haymeal patty. They'd retired to a goat-run deli Judy had introduced Nick to, a place with the most delicious veggie burger Nick had ever had, to discuss the case.

Nick stole one of Judy's fries. "I don't really see that. He seemed nice."

"That's because he was flirting with you."

"He was n-" Nick paused, chewing the fry thoughtfully. "He _was_."

Judy grabbed a crispy zucchini slice from Nick's plate. She grinned at him before popping it into her mouth. "Are you _scandalized_?"

"I thought a country rabbit like you would be."

"Ha!" Judy scoffed. "It's practically a _relief_ if one of your kids says they're not going to be having kits. I could name two dozen bunnies in my direct family who prefer their own gender."

"Well, flirting with the lead investigator. That _is_ suspicious."

Judy opened her mouth, as if to reply, but then closed it, popping in one of her fries to chew on. After a few moments, she swallowed. "What's your theory?"

"Reynard - the raccoon - sounds like she's got a grudge against Venkat. _And_ she closed up last night."

"Hm. I'd like to get in a chat with her before we make accusations. And see what we can get out of the security cameras. They store the tape off-site, and Venkat's looking into getting it for us."

"So conscientious."

"Were you planning on running around aimlessly until the case solved itself?"

"It'd be a heck of a trick if that worked. Although if I had my way, we could do all that drinking daiquiris at the Snakehole Lounge."

Judy paused mid-bite into her patty. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to drink those anymore."

"We are talking about an ideal world where investigation can be conducted while drinking cocktails. In such a world, I would be allowed Snakehole daiquiris."

"In this ideal world, would you keep your pants on?"

Nick felt the back of his neck warm. "...Probably not. _Anyway_ , given that the answer isn't going to fall into our laps, we should get to work."

" _So conscientious_ ," Judy said. "I've got Reynard's address, so we can pop over there and interrogate her."

"Okay, just let me get some pie-"

Judy grabbed Nick's paw and dragged him down. "How about we get some answers before you get pie?"

"You're a monster, Judy Hopps." Nick finished his burger in a few inelegant bites and smirked at her. "You ready?"

She hopped down from her chair and punched a fist into her paw. "Absolutely."

Reynard lived on the edge of the Rainforest District and Meadowlands, a lightly wooded area that felt much more comfortable than the towering trees of the Rainforest District proper. Like the Rainforest District, a number of apartments were sturdy treehouses, though most were smaller. The size of the place reminded him of his old neighborhood. The Den had housed a lot of the smaller predators (and _omnivores_ , Nick thought viciously) in Zootopia, and like Little Rodentia, scaled itself to its residents.

Nick shrugged off the thoughts as the cruiser slowed. Judy gave him a curious look, and he shook his head.

"Just reminiscing."

Judy's eyes went wide. "Did Nick Wilde grow up in the treetops?"

"Nah, this place just...reminds me of home. Where's Reynard's?"

Judy scanned the house numbers before pointing at a treehouse on the right, about ten feet up. "There it is."

The place looked ramshackle, the wood stairs shuddering under Nick's weight. About halfway up, he paused.

"If this place collapses on me, I'm suing someone."

Judy punched his hip. "Buck up, Wilde. We'll be fine." She jogged up the remaining steps and rapped on the door. "Zootopia Police Department!"

The door cracked open. A dark head shifted into the space in the door. "Hello?"

"Reynard Masque? My name is Judy Hopps - I'm with the ZPD, and-"

"I don't care _what_ Helen told you; I'm not running a drug ring out of my apartment. I don't even know where I'd _keep_ it if I did."

"Um, we're going to put a pin in that. We've actually got a few questions for you about Venkat's Valuables."

The beady eyes set in the face narrowed. "Wow, I don't know how it's possible, but I just got _less_ interested in this conversation. Good-bye."

"Wait!" Judy jammed her foot into the door before Reynard could close it. "Look, the jewelry store was robbed, and we've got a few questions."

"And you came right to the raccoon's door? Fantastic." Reynard yanked the door open. "Come on in. Shall you be sticking me in handcuffs directly, or are you going to pretend I'm not your top suspect first?"

"I…" 

Nick swept in ahead of Judy and grabbed Reynard's paw. "We are in our fact-finding stage, Ms. Masque, and we came here because we've already spoken to everyone else who works at the store. Now maybe we can sit down somewhere?"

"Oh, uh…" Reynard glanced at the apartment, a cramped room that _still_ managed to be twice the size of Judy's. She had a coffee table and a sofa bed that was currently unfolded.

"Or not, we don't want to be too much trouble." Judy tugged out her notebook. "Now, I understand you closed up the store last night. There's some confusion on a couple of facts. Did you lock the front door?"

Reynard's face fell. "Oh, _crap_."

"I'm going to take it you didn't?"

Reynard grabbed Judy by the front of her shirt, only letting go when the lunge earned a growl from Nick. He gave Judy a weak grin when she frowned at him. "You don't understand. Venkat's going to _kill_ me! 'One more mistake, trash panda, and I'm going to mail you one limb at a time back to the backwoods you came from'!"

Judy was scowling, and even Nick was beginning to feel a little more than his standard weariness with the state of the world. "So…"

"It's not my fault! That stupid reporter hanging around all day made it impossible to concentrate!"

"Wait...reporter?"

Reynard snapped at the air. "Whats-her-name, that lioness."

"Soledad O'Lion?"

"Yeah. That."

" _Before_ the theft?"

"Yeah." Reynard waved vaguely. "Venkat's family's been in the business forever. I think O'Lion was trying to prove their money comes from piracy or something. Took pictures of _everything_."

"Hey, we get to talk to Soledad again."

"Yayyyy," Judy said drily. "Look, beside Soledad, did you notice anything...or anyone...unusual?"

"I apparently didn't notice I'd left the door _unlocked_ , so I wouldn't trust _my_ recollection."

"Well, unless you left the jewelry cases unlocked, it wouldn't have made much difference. Our perp picked the locks."

"Or had a key," Reynard muttered.

"A definite possibility," Nick agreed. "You have any thoughts on that?"

Reynard snorted. "Course I do. Every place that shifty cat's worked at fired him - for one reason or another. Wouldn't be surprised if he'd been robbing them blind."

"Do you have any evidence? Anything we can look into? Or just rumors?"

Reynard glared at Judy briefly before shrugging. "Check out Neigh Jewelers in Tundratown. They're the last people who kicked Jeong to the curb."

Judy glanced at Nick; he shrugged, because he couldn't think of any follow-ups right now.

"Well, then, thank you for your time. We may be in touch if we have more questions."

Back in the car, Nick groaned. "That back there is exactly why I never got an office job."

"Why? The racism or the backstabbing?"

"Pick one." He flipped his sunglasses back on as Judy pulled back onto the road. "So, we checking out Neigh Jewelers?"

"Ugh, I don't think so. Until we've got some objective evidence, I'm not running around town following the trail of inter-office squabbles."

"Good point. So you want to see if CSI's done with the scene? Try to track down O'Lion for her pictures? See if Huawo's got the tapes?"

"I think we'll go with the person who benefits the most from making sure we've got evidence." Judy merged onto a road heading downtown.

Nick grinned. "Ah, the crafty, sensible option."

"Something like that. Hey, call the store and see if she can send us straight there."

"She'd probably rather hear from you."

"Well, she can put up with it if she wants her merchandise back. Call her."

Judy's paws were tense on the wheel, reminding Nick that she'd had her own share of the prejudice he'd been hearing all day. Even if it were just sympathy, she let things get to her, more if they ran the risk of hurting Nick. He put a paw on her knee as he called Venkat's number.

"Hello?" Nick guessed Venkat had tried talking to her insurance company again, because she sounded angrier than she had earlier.

"Ms. Huawo - it's Officer Wilde."

"Is your partner there?"

"Sorry, you're stuck with me." Nick grinned toothily at Judy, who smirked herself. "We wanted to know if you got in touch with your security company."

"They'll hand over the tapes, but they won't be able to get them downtown until tomorrow."

"Oh, tell them not to worry. We can pick up the tapes from their office."

There was a long pause, and then Venkat sighed. "Spilos Security - it's on Slot Street. I'll tell them to expect Officer Hopps and you."

"Thank you; you've been a great help." Even though he knew she couldn't see, Nick grinned at Venkat. "We'll be in touch."

Nick hung up and dropped his phone. "I'm starting to reconsider Jeong's suggestion of just decking her."

"Nick-"

Nick waved at her. "I'm kidding. I am a polite, professional officer of the law. I use force only when appropriate in the defense of my life or of another mammal." Judy didn't take her eyes off the road, but she smiled slightly. "Anyway, Venkat's calling Spilos Security to give them a heads-up. You have to admit, sitting back and watching security footage is about as close to solving cases while downing daiquiris as we're going to get."

Judy turned off toward Sahara Square. She shook her head, but was still smiling. There'd been an argument or two early on about Nick's attitude, before Judy had shown up at Nick's apartment with dinner and an apology, that she hadn't connected Nick's comments about letting the little aggressions slide off to his tendency to deflect and disconnect. That little conversation had been a relief. Judy's frustrations had sent Nick into spirals of worry that he was ruining the best friendship he'd ever had because of his inability to be sincere out in public where anyone could see. The resolution had strengthened the little core of faith Judy had rekindled in Nick, the foundation of their friendship as much as Judy's willingness to take panicked phone calls at three in the morning.

"It couldn't hurt our arrest record, either."

And at that, Judy's smile turned into a smirk, the eager, competitive smile her academy classmates had confided in Nick still made them nervous. Judy was an enthusiastic public servant; no one could doubt that. But she was never so driven as when she was in pursuit of a criminal.

Judy had never actually violated traffic laws in the cruiser, even during their few high-speed chases (the explosive subway car and an earlier rampage through Little Rodentia had left Judy more mindful of public safety). But she came close driving to Sahara Square.

Spilos Security was housed in a modern building, a vaguely bulbous construction with tinted windows and an engraved sign that identified the entire three-story building as belonging to the business.

Nick took the lead, pulling open the lightweight-sized door and holding it open behind him. The interior of the building was smooth and sleek, walls and floors of dark polished stone, and rounded furniture marking a waiting area. A black-coated possum sat behind a pale, smooth desk near the rounded chairs.

"Good afternoon." Nick strode to the desk, paw out. "Nick Wilde, ZPD."

"I can see," the possum drawled, eyes flicking to Nick's chest. He glanced at Judy, and a smile tugged at his mouth. "And you'd be Judy Hopps. A pleasure." He shook Nick's paw and nodded at Judy. "What can I do to help you?"

"Venkat Huawo should have called in; we're here to examine the footage from Venkat's Valuables." Judy hurried over, instinctively hopping up on her toes when she reached the desk, dropping down, though, when she realized it was scaled for mid-weight prey.

"You're looking into that mess? Well, let's hope it turns out to be nothing, right? Come on, I'll get you the tapes." He scampered out from behind the desk, pausing when, a few feet away, he saw Nick and Judy weren't following. "Come _on_. I bet Papa Tamati would want me to lend you one of our viewing rooms."

Nick scrambled after the possum; he caught a glimpse of Judy following along.

"I'm Mikaere, by the way," the possum announced as he led them along a short hall to a pair of elevators and punched the up button. "We're heading to the second floor."

The elevator on the right slid open, and stepping inside revealed a less glamorous, worn elevator. "Get in."

"You said you have viewing rooms. Do you watch the tape real-time?"

Mikaere laughed. "We've got...thirty clients or so. Sure, we peek in every now and again, and let me tell you, _nothing_ is as popular as the Snakehole Lounge on karaoke night." He glanced at Nick, grinning. A slow flush climbed up the back of Nick's neck; the mocking over his performance at the Snakehole Lounge had died down after Judy had confiscated all video evidence of that evening, but he hadn't imagined that anyone else had record of it.

"Well, we all like to cut loose now and again. I do appreciate your offering to let us review the tapes here."

Nick felt a surge of affection for Judy in his chest. It wasn't just that she was deflecting Mikaere from the topic of videographic evidence of Nick's indiscretions, it was that she was doing so with a deftness that would put any street hustler to shame.

"We're a customer service-oriented company." The elevator stopped, and Mikaere stepped out as the door opened to hold it open for Nick and Judy. "And the Huawos have been customers for a long time. Besides, not every mammal gets an opportunity to help Hopps and Wilde on one of their investigations."

Judy stumbled; Nick grabbed at her shoulder, just keeping her on her feet, although it took a few steps before she was stable enough to walk on her own. Those little violet eyes were wide, shell-shocked. Nick forced down a smile, well aware that for all Judy wanted to make a difference, she didn't deal well with being in the spotlight - a side effect, Nick supposed, of nearly having destroyed Zootopia in one botched press conference.

Well, one good turn deserved another. "It's a pleasure to find a mammal so enthusiastic about his civic responsibilities. But you said Venkat's a long time customer?"

"Her, about ten years. But her family...a Huawo jeweler's been with us as long as we've had security cameras."

"Hm. And how long has that been?"

"Absolutely forever." Mikaere stopped outside a sturdy metal door. "The Spilos' got in on the ground floor of security. We've been poking around with cameras even longer." He pulled the door open. "And voila!" The room was carpeted, speakers set in the front and back of the walls, a 60-inch screen with a prominent BlackDragon logo curling around the corner dominated the far wall, and a half-dozen couches sat in front of it.

Nick whistled, impressed. "This isn't an office; it's a movie theater."

Mikaere shrugged. "If you're going to watch security footage, it might as well be from a place of comfort. Plus, you know, movie night." He waved at the couches. "Take a seat, and I'll wrangle up the last week of tapes."

As Mikaere left, Nick scampered to one of the couches near the front and vaulted over the back. Judy followed a moment later, moving more cautiously. She hopped up to sit next to Nick while Nick settled back into the seat.

She poked him in the side. "We're not here to see the latest Savannah Jones movie."

"But did you hear him? They have _movie night_!"

Judy rolled her eyes. "For employees, Nick."

"Oh, come on." Nick did his best to replicate Finnick's innocent fox-elephant look. "I bet if we asked nicely-"

Judy snorted and folded his arms in front of her. "We're not going to use our positions to snag invites to a private movie showing."

Oh. Nick blinked once and shook to bring his expression back to normal. And then he slung an arm around Judy's shoulders. "Relax, Cottontail. I never forced a mammal to be my friend in my life, and I'm not going to start now." He paused, uncertain how to proceed. "I...never wanted to hurt anybody. Finnick taught me to make sure I wasn't doing anything I could be arrested for, and I…"

"You never stopped wanting to be a Scout, did you?" And Nick hated that gentle, thoughtful smile as much as he loved it. Judy knew the press at the cracks in his facade to find the wounds below, and he hated feeling exposed. But these moments always came with understanding, comfort.

"Nah, just can't imagine disappointing you, Carrots."

Judy smiled gently, eyes almost tearing, making it clear she didn't believe Nick's flippant tone. "...Thanks."

"You're a terrible influence, Hopps, making me want to make the world a better place."

Behind them, the door clicked, and Nick swung around. Mikaere waved a paw from the door. "Hi, I got the tapes. I'll just leave you here for a bit; you can catch up with me across the hall when you're done." He deposited a stack of tapes on the couch nearest Nick and Judy and all but fled.

Nick grinned at Judy. "Think we scared him off."

Judy snorted. "Not everybody is allergic to sincere emotion."

"Wasn't saying that. He probably thought we were going to start canoodling."

"You're _impossible_!" Judy said, laughing. "Come on, we've got to go through these tapes before our shift ends."

"Alright, but I bet you we could spend hours in here before he checks up on us."

Judy's ears flicked unconsciously; she glanced at the door and then briefly at Nick. "You don't _actually_ want to...canoodle, do you?"

Nick's tail twitched of its own accord, a shock down the length of it. "What? No! I thought we went over this already."

"Well, yeah." Judy scrambled off the couch to grab the tapes. "I guess we did." Even if it weren't for her drooping ears, Nick would have seen the slump in Judy's posture to hint that something wasn't quite right.

"Don't tell me you're offended I don't want some of that fluffy cottontail."

Judy snorted. "N - no! Gosh, I'm not - no!" She chuckled a little before turning, fiddling with the tapes as she did. "You're not...putting anything off to avoid making me feel abandoned, are you? Because I know it's _weird_ we spend so much time together and - and-"

"Hey, shush, Carrots." Nick hopped down to the ground and grabbed Judy into a loose embrace, tail swishing more naturally behind him now that he felt a little less blindsided. "You think my freewheeling lifestyle had time for romance? And right now - I'm working out who Nick Wilde, Super Cop, is."

"Super Cop?"

"Hey, don't laugh. I saved all of Zootopia once, and that was _without_ the benefit of academy training. But Judy, you and me? I love you, and that feels natural. If nothing else comes along that meshes with that, I'll be fine; I've got more love in my life than I ever expected."

"...Oh."

"So don't worry about me. But you...what brought on this worry? Is there a gentleman rabbit somewhere I should be worrying about?"

Judy shook her head. "Where would I find the time?"

"Well, if you ever need a little breathing room - a little time for yourself - give me a heads up and I'll run interference." Impulsively, Nick bent down and kissed Judy's forehead. "Now, are we all better?"

"Yeah." She wiped at the spit on her fur and strode to the video equipment, struggling for a moment before she got the tape in. "Alright, I'm going to start with yesterday, and...here we go!"

The screen lit up with a split-screen showing four shots of the interior of Venkat's Valuables. It was dark, until a moment later, the door swung open to admit Jeong. The cat scowled at the camera facing the door, before moving on to sweeping up and checking out the inventory, the register-

"Okay, go ahead and fast-forward."

It was fun, watching Jeong go through his day at super-speed, a black blur zipping across the store, meeting with a variety of customers…

"Huh. You'd think a guy planning to rob the place would be a little less enthusiastic about selling the merchandise." Venkat arrived, and the black blur vacated the premises. And then-

"Ooh! Look, it's Soledad O'Lion!"

"Yeah, can you pause it for a second?"

Judy did, giving Nick a good look at the lioness and her assistant, caught in the middle of snapping a photo of a display case. Pale, even the darker spots on his coat a light brown, the assistant had short ears, almost invisible, tiny, slender paws, and a rounded muzzle.

"Huh. I think he might be some sort of albino possum."

"I don't think that's really relevant, Nick."

Nick shook his head. "Yeah, you're right. Go ahead."

Soledad spent the next few hours walking around with Venkat, talking with customers, all while her assistant darted around taking pictures of the store. Reynard showed up at some point, and a space opened up in the store, the careful distance kept between owner and employee. Nick could have guessed at the strained relationship from that alone. The time passed on, and Reynard locked up the cases but not, as she'd realized during the interview, the front door.

The hours spun by in the dark store, until-

"Pause!"

"On it!"

Standing over the cash register was a dark form, albeit one too fuzzy to make out. "Can you enhance it?"

"That's...not really how video works."

"Then keep going, slower, and see if we can get a clear shot."

But the moment Judy unpaused, the entire picture went blurry, static jumping across it as brief glimpses of a blurred form.

This went on for twenty minutes until the thief slipped out the back door into the employees' area and the tape snapped back into sharp focus. Nick looked down at Judy, who was looking back at him.

"What was that?"

"Let's try this again; maybe it was a glitch."

Three repetitions revealed nothing else. The perpetrator entered in a vague blur, and after a few more moments, the entire screen became a plane of static, until it snapped back into high definition twenty minutes later, the perpetrator and Venkat's entire gold stock gone.

"That's some weird stuff, right?"

Judy nodded eyes fixed on the still of the empty store. "If the cameras had been fuzzy all night, it wouldn't be weird; it'd be unfortunate. But twenty minutes of static - get that possum in here and see if he can tell us what's going on."

Nick hopped back to the floor, raising his paw in a salute. "Right, boss!"

Though he couldn't see Judy's eyes, Nick knew she was rolling them. " _Please_ get the possum, partner."

Nick hurried across the hall, rapping on the opposite door. A few moments passed before it swung open. Mikaere had a pair of small, round glasses perched on his nose; he grinned suddenly and tugged them off, hanging them off the collar of his brown T-shirt.

"Officer Wilde!"

"Hey, Mikaere, we were wondering if you could give us a little help with one of the tapes."

"Absolutely!"

Mikaere trailed after Nick back to the viewing room. "Now, what's the problem? Sometimes you need to kick the projector a few times-"

"Not...the problem." 

Inside, Judy had rewinded to the clearest shot they'd had of the perpetrator, a smudged mass of pixels standing behind the cash register. She kept changing angles, as if that would force the image into focus.

"What, that?" Mikaere shook his head. "It means the camera's are busted."

"Yeah, just wait for it. Judy?"

Judy glanced back and obligingly fast-forwarded until the thief left the building and all four cameras snapped back into focus.

"...Oh. _That_ , I don't have an explanation for. My money's on magic."

"I was sort of hoping you knew about some transmitter that could mess with the cameras like this."

Mikaere snorted. "Yeah, magic."

"Okay, that's it." Nick stalked over to the projector and ejected the tape. "We're done for the day. Tomorrow we can deal with the magic invisible gold thief, but tonight I am going to Maclaren's to drown my sorrows in palinka."


	4. Chapter 4

A shrill buzzing woke Nick from dreams of fire. He fumbled at the side of his bed, but his phone didn't appear to be in reach. His mouth tasted strongly of sour cherry, and his legs were sore, souvenirs of a night spent guzzling palinka. The buzzing continued, quickly rising in Nick's list of priorities. He rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with the grace of a - sleep-deprived fox. Luckily, it was covered in scratchy, stained carpet so Nick only got a few light rugburns.

The end table next to Nick's bed was empty, and the floor near Nick was phone-less, leaving few places it could still be. He stood, swaying for a moment to get his bearings. His apartment, a studio that was actually bigger than Judy's (the joys of living outside of downtown), was cramped, humid, and broken in almost every way it could be. Judy had pushed Nick to be more assertive about his rights as a tenant, so the landlord generally kept just ahead of the cascade of potential failures that had once made the place all but uninhabitable. He'd always kept it neat (he'd never had enough to make a mess), but it was a little better, now, with at least tepid water in the shower.

He scanned the coffee table (shoved against the far wall next to the TV to allow him to unfold the bed), the tiny table between his bed and kitchen, and then - ha!

Nick bounded to the kitchen counter next to the sink and snatched up his phone, which had stopped buzzing and now read '1 Missed Call from Carrots'.

He debated for a moment calling her back, but then the phone started buzzing again.

"Hey, Cottontail."

"You sound less miserable than someone who drank a gallon of brandy last night should."

"Questionable judgment while under the influence aside, alcohol is one of my best friends. Just after Finnick, I think."

"Anyway…"

"What's up, partner?"

"Well, _first_ , we're late. I'm waiting for you outside."

Nick pulled the phone away to check the time, and yep, he was late. "Okay, that's my bad. But in my defense, I drank a gallon of palinka last night."

"That _clearly_ is the defense of a responsible law enforcement officer." Judy was fighting down a laugh, though, so Nick wasn't in trouble.

"What's second?"

"Well, remember our gold thief case?"

"I didn't drink _that_ much, Carrots."

"Guess what Bogo called me about first thing in the morning?"

"Someone wandered into the station and confessed?"

"Aw, that's so cute. No, Nick. We do not live in the universe where you can solve crimes by drinking brandy all night."

"You're a hard bunny, Hopps."

" _Life's_ hard. Like for instance, someone robbed Neigh Jewelers last night."

Nick was already readying a smart retort, but Judy's statement left him short. "Wait - what?"

"Neigh Jewelers. According to Bogo, one more jewel heist and we've got a spree."

"No, I mean I've heard that name before." Nick tapped his claws against the counter, the drumming sound giving him something to focus on. "Did Venkat mention it?"

"Nooo, it was Reynard. She said...that was somewhere Jeong worked before he started at Venkat's."

Nick's stomach fell. "Aw, I _liked_ him."

"Given you used to swing with criminals, that's hardly a good defense of his character."

"Yeah. I'd've considered robbing that old elephant if I were in his place."

"So….we need to get over to the scene of the crime. I've got the cruiser and I charmed a couple donuts out of Clawhauser, so-"

"You're an angel, Carrots. Give me five - wait." Nick sniffed at his arm. "Should I shower?"

Judy was silent for a few moments, apparently seriously considering the question.

"Yeah, I get it. Give me fifteen minutes."

Nick hated rushing a shower, even a tepid one. But Judy was waiting, and a second jewelry heist on their paws, so he had incentive to rush. The few moments to himself, however, gave Nick time to think. Reynard had plenty of reason to hate Venkat, but he couldn't imagine a thief leaving the front door unlocked before she broke in. For all that neither he nor Judy could identify the thief, the perpetrator was no larger than a wolf, writing off Venkat as the actual thief. A second robbery, of a place Jeong had worked at, though, painted a very clear picture. One shaded by prejudice, but also by too many coincidences to write off entirely.

Halfway down the stairs, it occurred to Nick that it was like something out of a comic book, the hero always attracting the attention of criminals, rather than the mammals who'd be right for him. He was still chuckling when he got into the cruiser.

Judy, of course, looked well-groomed and peppy, but she glanced at Nick, frowning thoughtfully. "What's up?"

"Just thinking. Our top suspect trying to flirt with me - makes me think of comic books, like how Catwoman's always flirting with Batman."

"And vice-versa."

Nick shrugged. "I didn't say it was exactly the same. Obviously, I'm not running around in spandex fighting crime. I'm not a billionaire, either."

Judy snorted, and Nick stared. She was holding a paw over her mouth, giggling through it.

"What?"

"I just - I imagined Finnick in that stupid - red costume-"

"Oh, _lord_." Nick could imagine it, Finnick as Robin, the Cub Wonder, dressed in red and trailing along behind him. "You can _not_ mention this to Finnick as long as I live."

"Why? I think we'd all have a laugh about it."

"Just...trust me. Anyway, we've got a crime scene to look at, right?"

"Right."

The first few minutes of their ride over to Tundratown was quiet; Nick found himself still musing on Jeong, and the crime overall. Mikaere's insistence that a camera-jamming device was as close to impossible that he was keeping his bet on magic being the means of the culprit's concealment was disconcerting. He glanced sidelong at Judy; they hadn't talked much about the case last night, him downing palinka and her drinking a tenth as much wine. He didn't know where she stood on the idea of magic, if she took Mikaere's suggestion seriously or as the ravings of a superstitious possum.

"So...magic."

"Right, I know? Obviously, it's nonsense."

"Hm."

"What, don't tell me you _believe_ in that!"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know; you live on the streets long enough, you hear stories. And you think about them way too much." He paused, the old hesitance in talking about himself rising. "My mom thought she was a little psychic. Had little feelings and junk like that." He shrugged again. "I mean, she's still dead, so who knows how that worked out for her."

Judy didn't respond for a few moments. "How did she die?"

"Rabies." Nick let that sink in for a moment. "I mean, not rabies, _actually_. But, you know...rabies."

He prayed (to whom, he didn't know) that Judy would drop the topic of his mother, and thankfully, she did.

"Well, I suppose Furlock Holmes would agree I shouldn't dismiss it out of paw. You have to admit it isn't _likely_."

"I certainly wasn't saying it was. Though...Mikaere seemed really sure a camera-scrambling device was as unlikely as magic. And he seems the type to know."

"I figure that's why we've got to find the motive and opportunity," Judy muttered. "The _means_ \- that'll work itself out."

"And right now all we've got is a motive of a disgruntled employee."

"Something like - oh, _fudge_."

"Carrots?"

Judy pulled the cruiser to the side of the road and dropped her head against the wheel. "The _media_."

"Deep breaths."

"Yeah." Judy kicked the door open and hopped down to the ground. "Come on."

They took only a few steps before Soledad O'Lion caught up with her. Her photographer snapped hurried pictures as Soledad descended on Nick, smiling (no teeth; she was in a good mood today).

"Nicholas! Good morning! I'm glad to see Zootopia's finest are on the case. Do you have any leads yet?"

Nick glanced past Soledad to the store, a small corner shop with unbroken front windows and 'Neigh Jewelers' etched in fancy letters. A pair of spotted horses were arguing next to the door.

"We just got here."

"Oh, don't be coy, Officer. Do you think you're the only person who knows about Jeong Goyangi's employment history? We were up here yesterday learning all sorts of interesting tidbits about him. He's been _terrible_ luck for his employers, starting with his parents' jewelry store, which burned down. Arson, they decided, though they couldn't prove anything."

Nick's first thought was to chide Soledad for her choice of words. But...well, there was accusing a black cat of being bad luck, and wondering why bad things happened to everyone they'd worked for.

"I'm not telling you who our suspects are, but if you give me that list of employers, I'll tell you something you probably don't know."

The lioness bit at her lip. "Hm. There's not a lot I don't know here. But, well, you're a standup guy, Wilde." She tugged a slip of paper from the slim binder she carried all her notes in, and handed it over to Nick with a toothy smile. "Now, I think you said something about a tip?"

"The perp messed with the security cameras. No idea how."

"Messed with? How?"

Soledad glanced down at her photographer, rolling her eyes. "He'd have said if he wanted me to know. Officer Wilde is a sl - smart mammal."

"Ah, but you'll never get anywhere if you don't ask. Your assistant…"

"Nikora," the photographer piped up.

"Obviously trying to pick up something about journalism. Commendable for a young…" Nick took a closer look at Nikora, again coming up short in trying to identify his species.

"Cuscus, Officer." It took every ounce of Nick's self-control not to comment on that.

"Well, I like to reward curiosity. Check out the security company, see if they'll talk to you. Now excuse us, we've got interviews to conduct."

Judy drew up a little closer than usual as they walked away. "They're going to be running around trying to figure out who to talk to."

"Then they'll stay out of our fur."

"Oh, I _love_ you."

"As you should. Good morning!" Nick waved at the horses. "I'm Officer Wilde, this is Officer Hopps-"

"And what are you going to do about this?" one of them, a pudgy mare, demanded. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she directed a sharp glare at Nick - a moment later, she shifted to Judy, and Nick relaxed, as the anger seemed directed at both of them equally. "Someone waltzed into our shop and stole dozens of unique, _priceless_ items!"

"Well, that's why we're here. Are you the owner?"

"Of _course_ I'm the owner!" the mare snapped. "I can't imagine any of my neighbors caring, and as for my _employees_ , well."

"Okay. Would you mind if we took a look around?"

"Just don't track dirt over everything." The mare stormed to the front of the store, unlocked the door, and yanked it open, standing off to the side to allow Nick and Judy room to enter. She let it close after them, but didn't, thankfully, lock them in.

The store, built to heavy midweight scale, was immaculate, white linoleum practically shining under their paws, polished dark wood edging the display cases, which Nick noted were unbroken. Judy, looking up, pointed out the four cameras set in the ceiling. Nick peeked around one of the counters. It was as clean back there, a sturdy footstool pulled up next to one of the display cases.

Nick slipped on a glove and reached up to tug at the nearest display case, unsurprised to find it still locked, despite the substantial gaps in the merchandise displays.

"I'm starting to put a little more weight on the 'magic' theory," Nick announced.

"You and me both." Judy finished a round of the display cases, ears stiff and eyes narrow. "It's the same as Venkat's - no gold left in the whole place."

"We got a name to attach to Ms. Yeller outside?"

Judy flipped a business card into Nick's view. "Mariam Trotter, Purveyor."

"If I'd known this job involved helping such pleasant mammals…"

Judy lightly slapped his arm. "Stop it. Nobody deserves to have their livelihood threatened."

"I know. I just come from a place where people sorted this sort of thing out themselves…"

Judy gave Nick a brief, sympathetic frown, but she didn't push. Nick didn't think he was off the hook; Judy _cared_ , and sometimes that involved digging into things Nick hadn't talked about with anyone for decades. But she knew when to back off, and when to dump Nick into the booth of a bar somewhere and press for answers.

Now was the time to do their jobs.

"Do you want to take pictures or interview the victim?"

"We should get Nikora in here and both interview her." Before Judy could chide him, Nick shook his head. "Kidding. I think I'll interview; you know how much I love talking to people."

He gave Judy a casual salute and sauntered back outside. Mariam was hovering just outside, stepping back hurriedly when Nick stepped out.

"So?" she demanded.

Nick let his easy smile fall into place. "Well, we didn't find your perpetrator hiding in the back room with a signed confession, if you're asking. You _are_ Mariam Trotter, yes?"

"Of course! Who else would be standing out here? And I don't appreciate your cavalier attitude. I have been robbed, and it is _your_ job to fix it."

"Sorry, ma'am. Now, I've got a few questions to see if we can sort all this out. Who was the last person in the store last night?"

"I was. I'm at the store every day, from open to close. And if you like, I can give you a description of some very shifty characters I saw yesterday."

"Certain-"

What followed, before Nick could even finish his word, was a twenty-minute diatribe about every mammal under the age of thirty who'd paid even a single moment of attention to her store, a hyena couple who proved unable to afford Trotter's prices, and a fox who Nick was almost positive had just been looking for somewhere warm to stay for a few minutes. But Nick dutifully took notes, because the smallest details sometimes proved vital, and because any suggestion he wasn't paying attention would have meant he'd end up being lectured by Chief Bogo, or worse, have to listen to the whole thing _again_.

"Alright, well, I've got a few other questions to ask. I think Soledad O'Lion came by yesterday?"

"Oh, yes. She's back out there now." Trotter scowled. "I wouldn't have let her in if I'd known she was going to interrogate me about my employees. I thought she was doing a profile or something."

"Your old employees? Anyone in particular?"

If possible, Trotter's expression grew darker, angrier. "That good-for-nothing tomcat I kicked out six months ago."

"Mr. Goyangi?"

"Yes. He had an _excellent_ resume, but neglected to mention some salient points about his work history."

"Miss O'Lion mentioned. Why did _you_ fire him?"

"Well, I couldn't have such a jinx working for me," Trotter replied. "I talked to some of his last employers - power failures, accounting system glitches, fires. His parents' store burned down, you know."

"Did...he actually _do_ anything?"

"Nothing anyone could _prove_ ," Trotter said airily. "But I wasn't going to sit around and wait for something terrible to happen to _me_."

"Mhm." Nick made a note and clamped his jaw shut to avoid bringing up the ironic justice of it all. "I'd presume you'd have noticed if he were hanging around the store recently."

"I'd _think_ ," Trotter drawled, "but you know how sneaky cats can be, _especially_ black cats."

"Ah." Nick began mentally reciting the ZPD Public Relations Manual, especially the bit about physical altercations with members of the public. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. We'll need to take a peek at your security cameras-"

"You'll need to talk to my security company - Spilos Security."

"Oh? We'd appreciate it if you gave them a call so we can review the tapes."

"You'll make sure you don't damage them," Trotter said briskly.

"Certainly. We won't leave a scratch on them." Nick offered a salute, because Trotter seemed the type not to see it as the insubordination it was. "Now, if you don't mind, me and my partner have got to go round up some evidence so we can get back your inventory."

He didn't wait for an answer, slipping back into the store. Judy looked away from her camera and waved at him.

"How'd it go?"

"I am glad I'm not on the market for marriage at the moment, because the jewelers around here are just _terrible_."

"That bad, huh?"

"Let's just get out of here before she says something that makes me forget ZPD Regulation 1 Part A Subpart 3 Dash B and deck her."

"Alright." Judy fell in behind Nick as he left the store and aimed for the cruiser. "By the way, that's actually the regulation on age restriction for entering the force."

Nick snapped his fingers. "That number kept sticking in my head, and I couldn't remember from where. Anyway, would you like to know a _fascinating_ fact I learned from Miss Trotter?"

Judy glanced over at Nick, one eyebrow raised.

He couldn't help but grin. "She contracts with Spilos Security."

And Judy grinned, because a disgruntled employee of the stores might be a good suspect, but an employee of the security company had a lot more opportunities to commit the crime, and more to tamper with the tapes.

"Makes a lot more sense than 'magic', doesn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, yes it does." Judy pulled away from the curb and turned toward Sahara Square. She looked over at Nick, still grinning, and he felt the thrill in his chest he did when they hit a big break, turned investigation into pursuit (he'd talked about it a little with the other cops, finding the predators felt the same way, sometimes. Something in them liked chasing, he guessed).

Mikaere was sitting behind the desk when they arrived; he was chatting to an elderly possum with faded grey fur.

"Oh, Officers!" Mikaere hopped down, tugging the elderly possum after him. "Papa Tamati, this are the officers I told you about."

Tamati looked Nick and Judy up and down with milky green eyes before smiling and holding out a paw. "Charmed. I was happy to hear Mikaere was helpful to our mammals in blue. Now, what can we do for you two?"

"We need to review the tapes from one of your clients. Neigh Jewelers. We can certainly secure a warrant if you need-"

"Pshaw," and Nick had _never_ heard anyone say that word in real life, "We wouldn't think of getting in the way of the police. Why, how'd I feel if someone robbed my safe and you couldn't chase the criminal because my neighbor wouldn't let you chase him over their roof?" Nick nudged Judy before she could derail the conversation by explaining the rules of pursuit. "So come along. Mikaere, grab the tapes. I'll show you to a viewing room."

Nick padded after Tamati, Judy trailing behind. "So, how's business?"

"Oh, excellent! People pay well for our surveillance. Even if someone gets past it, well, you've got your perpetrator there in high-definition video." He paused a little, and Nick glanced back at Judy, who looked thoughtful. Tamati had a reputation to protect, which meant the suggestion that one of his people was responsible for the thefts wasn't going to go down well.

Of course, that presumed the thief at Neigh Jewelers had managed the same trick as they had at Venkat's Valuables.

A few minutes later, Mikaere delivered the tapes to them in the viewing room. Nick had already taken a seat, so Judy took the fast-forwarding responsibility. The tape started around mid-day the day before, which meant one of the first things that showed up was Soledad O'Lion and Nikora. He wandered around taking pictures of the display cases while Soledad drew Miss Trotter into conversation.

"What _is_ a cuscus, anyway?"

"What? Like a capybara, I think."

"Hm." Nick settled back to watch as Miss Trotter went through the rest of her day. She closed up, the shop went dark, and then-

"Well, at least it's the same person."

Judy gave him a glare. "How can you tell?"

"It's the exact same blur as the one at Venkat's."

"Your investigative insight is, as usual, stunning." Judy paused the tape and glared at the screen as if that would force it into clarity. "I sort of hoped the last one was a glitch."

Nick hopped from the sofa and ambled to Judy's side. The screen showed a medium-sized blur on top of one of the display cases, just a moment before the entire screen was filled with static.

"Can I?" When Judy nodded, Nick rewound, trying to judge everyone who entered the store that day, trying to find some mammal who paid unusual attention to the store, its security, anything. But there was _nothing_. "I feel like we're missing something," Nick growled, pausing on an image of Miss Trotter shouting fairly emphatically at Soledad.

"Yeah, we're behind the curve here," Judy snapped. She began pacing in a tight circle. "We've got two robberies. And a couple of theories. And with that, I think we've got enough for a stake-out. We've got a list of places Jeong worked, and I'm sure Tamati will be happy to get a list of their jeweler clients."

"Where are we staking out?"

"We can figure it out when we've got both lists."

Tamati was happy to provide a list of clients, but it didn't produce a lot of useful results, except…

"The Tail End," Judy concluded, poking at the lists they'd propped up on the dashboard. "Jeong worked there a couple of years ago, and Spilos has been on contract with them forever."

Nick nodded. "Okay. Can you explain _why_ we want a place on both these lists?"

"Okay, working theory - you mind if I drive while I talk? It's somewhere out near Banana Lane, and you know how Canal traffic gets with all those lifty bridge things."

" _I'm_ not going to bust you for talking while you drive." Nick kicked up his feet on the dashboard, only to drop them at Judy's glare. He grinned at her.

" _Anyway_ , I want to test out the working theory that Jeong's behind it but has a contact with Spilos Security. Obviously it might not pan out, but-"

"You love stake-outs. Can we at least make sure we've got a good stock of Red Bulls before we start?"

"You know, foxes are supposed to be nocturnal."

"We're supposed to eat meat, too, but I don't hear you complaining about _that_ little deviation from my instincts."

Judy responded to that by sticking out her tongue.

The banter was good, easy, keeping them from settling on deeper topics, things that might distract from a long, boring evening of watching a jewelry store. The Tail End was at the ass-end of nowhere, and in a poor neighborhood that made Nick wonder if the place stocked enough gold for their jewel thief to hit the place. But sometimes you had to endure a mind-numbingly boring evening to rule out a theory so you could get closer in on finding the real story.

Like around 11:30, when the radio blared. "We have a 211-S at Bromeliad and 12th, Golden River."

Judy was already lunging from the handheld. "This is Car 86, heading out from Fly Island." She turned the key on the return, revving up the car.

Because a silent alarm had been triggered at the Golden River, a jewelry store in the east Canal District, a place on on Jeong's list, but not Spilos'. It looked like their jewel thief was a cat burglar in the end.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick and Judy were the second car there; George and Tony, a pair of wolves with the sharpest noses on the force, had already gained entry and found no trace of the thief. Tony (or George; the two of them could have been twins) was currently standing guard in front of the entrance.

"I can't let you in. Tony's looking for clues." (It was George, then.)

"I am sure he is, and doing an excellent job. In fact, I am certain his nose is going to pick up things Judy and I would otherwise miss. But! This is our case."

"We got here first," George said, puffing himself up a little. And that sort of attitude was Nick and Judy's fault, because everyone suddenly felt inadequate about the wonder team, who'd taken down the assistant mayor's plot to rip Zootopia apart and _nearly_ gotten the mayor impeached.

"You may have," Nick allowed. "But this is our serial jewel thief. If it isn't, well, it's your case."

"And how can you tell?"

"Because I'm going to tell you three things about the scene in there that match the MO of our jewel thief. One - nothing's broken. All the glass cases are locked, put back the way they're supposed to be. Two - the thief left everything in there made of silver, platinum, whatever. Only gold's missing. And three - if you find the security tapes, the twenty minutes or so it took the thief to take everything is just one big mess of static. So." Nick gave George a wide grin. "Does that sound like 'your' crime scene?"

"Give me a second." George vanished into the store. Nick rocked back on his heels, still grinning.

"Every time I see something like this, I'm glad I got you on our side."

Nick shot Judy a wide grin. "I don't know what you're talking about."

" _Anyway_ -"

George cracked the door open and poked his head out. "Uh, you might as well come in."

Nick shrugged and strolled in. The store was, by design, less orderly than the others. But there were two-thirds-empty display cases, not a gleam of gold in the store, and nothing that looked like anyone had, you know, broken in.

Tony lounged against the far wall, behind a low desk with a cash register on it. "Money wasn't taken, you know, and the tape, out back, just shows a blur. It's actually a relief, letting you take this. You...end up with weird cases, you know that?"

"Don't we know it. Carrots?"

Judy hopped up onto a display case and began pacing the store, taking in the walls, the cases, the remaining inventory, to check up on the MO.

Nick sauntered past Tony. "How about you show me the security tapes?"

The back room was - well, _cluttered_ didn't quite encapsulate the nature of the mess. It seemed entirely possible the store's owner had never thrown away anything they'd ever owned. A television screen was tucked in between a plush kitten and pile of unpaid bills. Nick flicked it on and Tony handed him a tape.

Nick started rewinding, seeing the day pass in reverse, starting with the staticky screen, the brief blurred figure, and passing back into the business day, showing the shaggy dog owner opening shop, to a series of customers leaving jewelry with the owner, and…

"What are you playing at?"

"Wilde?"

"This is the third jewelry store Soledad O'Lion's visited the day _before_ it got robbed." It was almost impossible to imagine Soledad turning criminal; she had the same bone-deep sincerity and devotion to her profession that Judy had, a principled dedication to the truth. Besides, she was one of the most famous reporters in Zootopia. She certainly couldn't be hurting for money. Of course, suspicious or not, there was at least one reasonable explanation. Soledad had a list of Jeong's old employers, and may have spent the entire day visiting them.

But Nick couldn't help but feel he was missing something…

"Alright, let's see if Judy's found anything useful."

George was taking pictures under Judy's direction, but when she caught sight of Nick, she shrugged.

"The place is clean."

"I wouldn't use that word to describe the backroom, but the tape's the same as both the other ones. Including the fact that Soledad O'Lion beat us here."

Judy's ears swiveled toward Nick, her head following a moment later, nose wrinkled in thought. "You don't think-"

"Soledad O'Lion is not a jewel thief, Carrots. She does, however, have Ben wrapped around her paw - probably explains how she keeps on top of the police calls."

"But-"

"Judy, Soledad is as sickeningly driven as _you_ are - I was in her office once and she's got the SPJ Code of Ethics framed over her desk. Look, we're not even supposed to be on call this late - I vote we wrap up and see if things make sense in the morning. George? Tony?"

"We should get back on patrol anyway. Good luck, Hopps, Wilde."

"Yeah, good luck with the rest of your shift."

It took another fifteen minutes to wrap up the little minutia before Nick and Judy could leave (Judy'd been surprised, at first, by Nick's attention to detail until he'd reminded her he'd gotten permits to make his every scam perfectly legal). She drove him home, but Nick couldn't quite muster the energy to leave his seat after she'd parked.

After a few moments of silence, Judy poked Nick's side. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Nick swiped his paw across his face. "Just tired; not looking forward-" He shook his head. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, right?" He unhooked his belt and swiveled to leave the car, but found a sudden pressure around his wrist. He looked up at Judy, who had the furrowed brows, set jaw, and wavering chin of her determined, concerned expression, the one that could lead to a real stand-off if Nick tried to brush her off. "Judy?"

"What's _wrong_?" she repeated slowly. It was hard, trying to push back against that. Judy would give, eventually, if he tried stone-walling, but she'd worry. And twenty years older and wiser than the kit who didn't care, he knew how much having someone to worry about him mattered.

So Nick's choices were to fight back and turn this into an argument, or give Judy the relief of at least worrying about his actual problems, instead of constructing elaborate scenarios of what _could_ be wrong.

"Bad dreams," Nick allowed.

"About what?"

"...Fire."

Judy drew closer, almost near enough for a hug if she deemed it necessary. "You've been having that dream again?"

"Yeah. Sometimes." Nick shut his mouth before he could clarify, because Judy did not need to know _how_ often.

"Have...you talked to anyone about it?"

"Yeah, you." At Judy's impatient little huff, Nick shrugged. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not big on sharing. Look, it's a bad dream. I'm being stupid. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Nick pulled free and slipped out of the cruiser. The sound of a second door closing just trailed his own, and Nick stiffened, scanning the street for trouble. And then motion at the rear of the cruiser proved to be Judy popping the trunk. When Nick stalked around to her, she was tugging a dark canvas bag out.

Judy gave Nick a wide smile. "I realized I'm more tired than I thought, so I was hoping you'd put up this poor, defenseless bunny for the night, rather than forcing me to traverse the unpredictable wilds of the Zootopia public transit system."

"Well, if you're _that_ tired…"

"Exhausted."

Nick _loved_ that bunny, the only creature alive who'd play-act so she didn't have to force him to admit he needed company. He led her upstairs to his attic apartment musing on that, although was forced back to reality when Judy rapped his elbow, alerting him that he'd stopped in front of his door without actually opening it.

He grinned at Judy and unlocked the door, kicking it open (wincing when it hit the wall), and stepped inside, making a sweeping bow.

"Your quarters."

"Nick, I was polite the first time I was here. This is a hole." Judy stepped in and carefully pushed the door shut. "And not a nice den kind of hole. A hole.You can afford better than this."

Nick shrugged. "It's fine; I'm used to it."

"You're probably used to the nightmares, too. Come on, open up the bed so I can get some sleep."

"Right!" Nick prepped the bed while Judy vanished into his bathroom to get herself ready. He was piling some blankets on the floor for himself when Judy, dressed in loose green shorts and a bright orange Zootopia School of Criminology t-shirt, stepped back out. She gave Nick a brief glare before pointing at the bed.

"You are not sleeping on the floor. Get in."

"What? I'm not-"

"Hundreds of siblings, Nick. I've shared beds before. And let me remind you I was the only thing standing between you and complete nudity at the Snakehole Lounge last Halloween, so you're hardly going to offend my delicate sensibilities."

"Okay, well, I've just got to-" Nick gestured toward his bathroom and then bolted. He took a few moments to breathe, leaning against the door, before he actually moved to wash up. His heart was pounding and he didn't know why. He'd been trapped across the city during the weekend the climate system had broken, blanketing the city with snow, and had been forced to take Judy's bed (but not to share). He'd fallen asleep on patrol (once). Neither had left him feeling so panicked.

Of course, no one else had ever slept in Nick's apartment. Back before he'd decided dating wasn't worth the effort, he'd never taken anyone home, and he'd never trusted any of his...associates to _see_ his apartment, much less stay over.

Sweet mother earth, he was acting like a moron.

"Deep breaths, Wilde. You can do this - sharing a bed with your best friend in the world, who'd never do anything to hurt you."

"Woo yay! You can do it!"

...Of course, as Nick had never had someone over for long, he'd forgotten how thin the walls were.

He stumbled back out to the main room, ears down and tail tucked around him, at least until he saw Judy sitting on his bed just smiling at him, and everything just sort of relaxed.

"Obviously, I'm not going to make a habit of this - this is the worst mattress I've ever slept on-"

"You can still take the floor." Nick dropped onto the still-empty half of the bed and shut his eyes.

"Nah, I feel safer up here."

Judy's presence didn't dispel the nightmares; Nick still dreamed of fire, but he didn't wake drenched in sweat. It took a few moments of thought when he woke (at a decent hour, at least for a cop) to work through it before he realized why. Sleeping within arm's reach of the rabbit he was looking for in his dreams, close enough he could smell her, had allowed some reassurance to slip into Nick's subconscious.

Feeling a little more balanced, he slipped out of bed, glad he hadn't ended up wrapped around his partner like a kit with a plush animal. He showered, taking a few minutes to relish the spray, if not the temperature (he'd be willing to move just for hot water, but Judy was wrong - he couldn't afford better, not with his other expenses). Once clean and dressed, he took a brief detour to Ms. Ovinnick's front door, peeking at her newspaper to make sure the city hadn't burned down.

Unsurprisingly, Soledad O'Lion had published a sensationalistic piece about the jewel thief. Nick scanned the article to see if she knew anything they hadn't yet picked up, scowling when he saw her refer to the ZPD as "baffled", and then paused when he passed by the picture accompanying the article.

"Carrots!" He bolted back into his apartment, finding Judy on her feet, ears straight and tense.

"What-"

Nick shoved the paper at her. "Look!"

"Did you _steal_ that from your neighbor?"

"I borrowed it, but I need you to _look at that picture_!"

Judy glanced at it and shrugged. "It's a display case from...looks like Neigh Jewelers."

"Look at the byline."

"The by-" Judy paused mid-word as she read it, and when she looked back up at Nick, she was grinning. "Nikora _Spilos_."

"Come on, get dressed. I want to check out the tapes."

Judy didn't need a second request; she was dressed and presentable in under ten minutes, grabbing at her keys as she sprinted to the door. She bounded down the stairs, outpacing Nick despite his own excitement and longer stride, and was in the car and buckled by the time Nick got there. She tugged Nick in further when he slid into the cruiser.

"Easy there, Cottontail; our jewel thief's a night owl, so we've got time."

Judy revved the engine and gave Nick a wide grin before launching the cruiser into motion. She came as close as she ever had to breaking an actual traffic law getting to the station, and was halfway to the door before Nick could unbuckle himself. He was just able to catch up with her at the door, but grabbed Judy's paw to keep up as she ran for the evidence lockers.

Once settled in a viewing room with the tapes they'd secured, Judy gave Nick a careful, sidelong glance.

"What exactly _are_ we looking for?"

"Something more than coincidence, so we can get a warrant."

And now that he knew what he was looking for, Nick found it.

"Ha!"

"Nick?"

Nick paused the playback from Venkat's and rewound a few minutes. "Ignore Venkat and keep an eye on Nikora."

Judy leaned closer, narrowing her eyes to watch Nikora circling the jewelry store, taking pictures. "He's taking pictures."

"Well, yes. But - and this is making no admissions about my past activities or associations - I know what it looks like when someone's casing a joint. Here-" Nick pointed to the screen. "He's taking shots of the cameras, and every single case. I think he's taken one shot of the owner of the place."

"Hm." Judy didn't immediately agree, but she did watch the tape through until Nikora and Soledad left. "Let's see the next one." She watched in silence as Nikora wandered through Neigh Jewelers, taking one desultory picture of Miss Trotter before detailing the entrance, ceiling, and security cameras. "And the next one." She pulled her chair closer as she watched this one, as Nikora snapped pictures of the inventory, of the back room…

"That's...definitely suspicious. But I think we need a little more than supposition. Do you have Soledad O'Lion's number?"

"Yeah, I've got it written down somewhere-"

" _Show me_."

It took five minutes of digging through his desk for Nick to find Soledad's card, which Judy snatched and fled to her own desk. Nick followed, bemused as Judy grabbed her phone and all but punched the numbers in.

"Hello? Soledad O'Lion? _Yes_ , Officer Hopps. I saw your lovely piece in the Gazette this morning, and I thought - oh, of course, I wouldn't _dream_ of pushing you for your sources." Judy was smiling - only just - and had the lilting "professional" voice she started off using on days of parking duty, before the shouting got to her. "No, we just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes - yes, at the station. Though I'd have to ask one _tiny_ little favor. _Please_ don't mention it to anyone." She paused for a moment, listening, and then smiled just a little wider. "No tricks, Miss O'Lion. Just...well, I can't promise anything, but you could very well find yourself sitting on top of a fantastic scoop. You will? Oh, _thank you_." She hung up and let the polite smile drop. "See what interview rooms we can get ready. We're going to interrogate the press."

"You _hustled_ her," Nick accused.

Judy shrugged. "I got her to agree to come."

"You're scared of her."

Judy's actual smile, the sly bunny smile, returned. "But I know something she _doesn't_."

"Carrots, you _always_ know something she doesn't. That's why she tries to pry answers out of you."

"Oh." Judy's eyes went wide and her ears quivered. "I...hadn't thought about that."

Nick clapped her on the back. "That's why you've got me. Now let's go see about that interview room."

When Ben led Soledad into Interview Room 2, she was smiling, though when she caught sight of Judy seated at the table and Nick lounging against the mirror, she paused, smile wavering to something more uncertain. Because she'd only ever seen Judy stammering through a press conference and fleeing rather than talking to reporters.

Soledad had never met the sly bunny.

"Good morning, Soledad." Judy gestured at the opposite chair, and Soledad took a seat, carefully. "Now, I hope you don't mind if I record this conversation-"

"As long as I can do the same."

Judy smiled gently. "Oh, of course. Now, I'm obligated to tell you that you don't have to answer any question, and if you do want a lawyer present, we are obligated to wait-"

"Are you _interrogating_ me? Do-" Soledad sat bolt upright, baring her fangs. "Do you think _I've_ been robbing these stores?"

"Hm?" Judy's eyes widened as she widened her smile. "We're not detaining you, Miss O'Lion. You're free to leave at any time." She placed a tape recorder on the table and pressed "Record". "This is Officer Judy Hopps, on Thursday, April 22, 9:45 AM, interviewing Soledad O'Lion. Now, Miss O'Lion, you've been at the scene of several jewelry stores the day before they were robbed. Venkat's Valuables, Neigh Jewelers, and Golden River."

"I'm a _journalist_. After Venkat's was robbed, I was following up on a story-"

"I didn't say anything different. Did I, Officer Wilde?"

"Just the facts, Officer Hopps." Nick grinned a little, letting his teeth show.

"Right. So you _did_ visit those establishments."

Soledad glanced at Nick; he shrugged at her, making it clear she wasn't getting any help from him.

"...Yes."

"Did you visit any other jewelry stores recently?"

"I had a list; I gave it to you, if I recall."

Nick tried not to groan. Judy's ears twitched, drooping a little, the only sign she'd realized that there were a lot more possibilities for their thief's next target than they'd hoped.

"By yourself?"

"Of course not. I had my photographer...Nick? with me."

"Nikora?"

Soledad snapped her fingers. "Yes! That."

"How long has he been with you?"

"About three weeks - wait, you don't think _he's_ responsible!"

"I'm just asking questions, Miss O'Lion." Judy turned, as if to look back at Nick, but paused, turning back to Soledad. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"What?"

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking. I mean, obviously I'd be shocked if someone accused one of _my _friends of being a jewel thief."__

__"He's not a _friend_ ," Soledad amended, letting one of her paws waver a little. "He's a colleague, a journalist. It's just a little worrying to think about."_ _

__"I presume he came well-recommended."_ _

__Soledad dropped her head a little. "He's a _photographer_. His pictures were recommendation enough."_ _

__Judy leaned forward, folding her paws in front of her. "I don't suppose he showed any particular interest in any of the stores you visited yesterday."_ _

__"Not that I recall…" Soledad's face shifted, a wrinkling of the snout, a tugging down of the mouth._ _

__"Is something wrong?"_ _

__"A lovely little place, been open for _generations_ ," Soledad muttered._ _

__"What?"_ _

__"It's what he told me about Venkat's when he suggested a story about it."_ _

__And Nick grinned. Because a photographer who'd been hired a few weeks ago, who pushed his employer to get him inside a place where no one would look askance at him taking a lot of pictures, and who had access to a working knowledge of security systems, was _almost_ enough that no judge in Zootopia would deny a request for a warrant to search Nikora's home._ _

__"I just have a question or two left, Miss O'Lion. A journalist like you - you put in long hours, right? When'd you pack it in for the night the last couple of days?"_ _

__"Early. It's been a slow week. Six, seven maybe."_ _

__"Do you spend much time with Nikora outside of work?"_ _

__And Soledad straightened, stretching her back, and stood up. "Not a bit. I've got no idea where he's spent the last three nights." She strolled toward the exit. "But I'm sure you two will figure it out; you always do. Hey, does Benjamin validate parking?"_ _

__Judy, staring at Soledad, wide-eyed, had lost her composure again, so Nick pushed himself upright. "You should know; I know you've been pumping him for information."_ _

__Soledad raised a paw to her mouth and chuckled. "You make it sound positively filthy. I'll just see myself out and you don't worry yourselves. You know where to find me if you have questions, or want to give a poor, suffering journalist a scoop. Bye!"_ _

__Judy stared after her for a few moments after Soledad shut the door behind her._ _

__"Why do I always feel like she's gotten the better of me?"_ _

__"Because my natural pessimism has started to rub off on you, Carrots. Now come on, let's see if we can wring a warrant out of someone."_ _

__It took only an hour to track down Nikora's address and convince Judge Oran to let them check out his apartment. The ride itself took about ten minutes; Judy didn't seem inclined to hurry, and Nick didn't push. This wasn't a chase anymore._ _

__But when Judy pulled up in front of Nikora's apartment building, she scrambled out of the cruiser quickly. Nick hurried to follow as she jogged up the stairs to the third floor, where the little plate, '317', was worn and almost unreadable. Judy rapped on the door._ _

__"Mr. Spilos? This is the police?"_ _

__There was no sound, no movement from inside, so Judy gave Nick an inquiring look. He shrugged and took a step back. If you worked with horses, rabbits, or the one kangaroo in the Seventh, you stepped back when they decided to open locked doors._ _

__Luckily, this place was built to Nick's scale, so she could get the height to knock the door open with a sharp kick, rather than the few times she'd just kicked a rabbit-sized hole in the bottom. The apartment within was a mess, clothes, old takeout containers, and unopened mail scattered across every flat surface._ _

__"This would be a lot easier if he had a pile of gold jewelry on the couch."_ _

__Judy glared at Nick before stepping around a pizza box. "I'll keep that in mind. You check out the bedroom, I'll see what's out here."_ _

__"Whoo." Nick ambled to the two doors set against the rightmost wall, tugged one open to find a bathroom, and took the next one. The bedroom was a little neater than the living space, dim even when Nick flicked on the overhead light. There weren't any gold rings and necklaces piled on the bed, so Nick allowed a flash of irritation at Nikora for not making it easier on them. The niggling thought that they were wrong started making itself known, the embarrassment of breaking in someone's _door_ for nothing (Chief Bogo tended to overlook minor missteps if you turned out to be right, but to do this to an innocent…cuscus, whatever that was...)._ _

__But it was rare for both Nick _and_ Judy to be wrong. Nick slipped to a low dresser and tugged open the top drawer, revealing rows of multi-colored briefs._ _

__"Nick! I found something!"_ _

__"Thank heavens," Nick muttered, shoving the drawer closed. Digging through people's underwear drawers and garbage were the least glamorous parts of the job, and if they could find an excuse to rush off and leave that job to another investigative team, he would not lose sleep over that._ _

__Judy was standing in the kitchen, having sorted a thin pile of papers in front of her. She looked up and grinned at Nick when he entered._ _

__"Guess who has a storage unit?"_ _


	6. Chapter 6

Nick called in the request for a warrant as Judy drove to EZ-Hoard, Nikora's storage unit rental establishment of choice, before pleading with Ben to send a team to keep an eye on Nikora's place.

"We're on the hook for a dozen donuts from Do-It-Rite tomorrow," Nick said when he hung up. "Or Ben, and I quote, 'will be very disappointed' with us." Judy ducked down just a hair, and Nick felt a surge of - well, affection, mostly - for her. "Judy, he doesn't blame you for that whole fiasco with the Night Howlers. And if he didn't hate you for that, he's not going to for forgetting to get him a few donuts."

"I know. I just...hate remembering that look on his face. He's a people person, Nick - needs to be liked."

"And he is! He's got the most stubborn, fair-minded mammal in Zootopia on his side." Nick patted Judy's shoulder, earning a crooked grin from her.

"Alright, I get the point."

The radio crackled. "Officer Hopps? This is Officer Wong...um, the place you told us to look at is sort of on fire."

Nick grabbed at the radio. "This is Officer Wilde. What do you mean 'sort of'?"

"Sorry," Wong replied. "I mean, most definitely. Um, this is my first week. And there's pretty much no doubt that the place is on-" Sirens drowned out the rest of his statement.

Nick glanced up and realized the noise was _their_ siren.

"Buckle up, Wilde," Judy muttered.

Nick was already buckled up, but braced himself anyway. Judy wasn't exactly a speed demon, but she knew how to move when she needed to.

EZ-Hoard was in Sahara Square, a fifteen minute drive in most normal traffic. Judy halved that, siren blaring the entire way. EZ-Hoard was a huge blocky building surrounded by a chain-link fence, and nothing was currently on fire. Judy skidded to a halt at a guard station, flashing her badge.

"ZPD! We need to get in immediately!"

"Of...course."

Judy's ears dropped when she realized the guard was a sloth. "Never mind, we'll get in on foot!" She launched herself from the cruiser, leaving Nick to scramble to follow as the guard hunted for the gate control. They ducked under the arm of the gate and Judy sprinted toward a glass-walled area on the bottom floor of the building. A skunk sat behind a low desk, staring, Nick saw as he craned his head around the desk, at a screen rotating between a dozen different images.

"ZPD," Judy panted as she braced herself against the desk. "You should be getting a warrant by fax right about now; we need access to unit 689."

The skunk started to turn, his chair, but caught his paw to rotate back to face Judy.

"Six-eight-nine? That's funny-"

"Which way?" Judy snapped.

The skunk jerked his thumb at a metal door on his right. "Up the stairs, right once you get to the sixth-"

And Judy was gone, Nick on her heels, at least until they hit the stairwell. Nick was agile, but was also a decade older than Judy, who had perfected a stunning acrobatic method of navigating spaces made for mammals larger than her. Using the wall as leverage for a jump to the railing, and then leaping between the inner loop to scale the stairs, she was two floors ahead of Nick when she hit the fifth floor and the door to the sixth floor slammed open.

Nikora, a bulky bag strapped to his back, burst into the stairwell. Though he was running, he moved with no sound even from his bag, and hugged the walls. The shadows at the edge of the dim lights illuminating the stairwell shifted along the pale brown splotches on his coat, and, like a zebra in tall grass, he at times seemed to disappear against the concrete background.

Nikora passed Judy halfway between the fifth and sixth floors; she continued, apparently unaware of him.

"Carrots! He's heading down! ZPD, Spilos - stop!"

He was grateful that Judy didn't ask questions, didn't doubt Nick, just paused at her next landing point and reversed direction. Nikora froze for a single moment, his gaze sweeping over the space until it met Nick's. Then, glancing up at Judy, Nikora scrambled up the railing and began a clumsier, more labored replication of her movements, passing Nick in less than half a floor.

"Aw, rut this." Nick grabbed the railing and hoisted himself up, taking a moment to look at the three-story drop he was looking at before jumping. He tucked his arms in, tried to remember how to roll, and sort of managed. He didn't break anything when he hit the bottom, anyway, though it took a moment for him to catch his breath.

Long enough for Nikora to reach the door, so it was already halfway closed when Nick reached it.

The front office was dim, whether from some passing cloud outside or what Nick didn't have time to worry. Especially because something hooked around his right ankle, sending Nick into another tumble, a shorter one, but one that reopened the question of whether Nick had broken anything in his original fall.

An unmistakable click drew all of Nick's attention up. Nikora was a few feet away, out of reach but entirely close enough to shoot Nick with the pistol he held in his paws. Nikora's paws were shaking, his stance poor, so he was untrained. Nick would bet Nikora had never shot another mammal, which meant Nick could probably talk himself out of being the first.

But then Judy hit the stairwell door, forcing it open with a bang. Nikora's arm jerked up and paws clenched in surprise.

Drill Sergeant Fuschia left a different impression on every mammal who passed through the academy. Sometimes it was an idea of a mammal's weaknesses, or their strengths. Judy had learned she had to approach problems from different angles because the world was built for larger and stronger mammals.

Nick had learned hesitation could get you killed. Or worse, someone else. He'd lost too many sparring matches overthinking things, and had only gotten through it when he'd learned to identify his options with the same instinctiveness he could identify his possible exits.

Knowing what you _could_ do made it that much easier - and that much faster - to decide what _to_ do.

Prone and with an aching side that might mean a broken rib, there weren't many choices available to Nick. What he _could_ do was shove himself toward Nikora with enough force to clear the distance between them, hook his foot along Nikora's ankle, and pull. And _that_ was enough to send Nikora's reactive, potentially accidental, shot high, missing Judy's right ear by inches.

Seeing their perpetrator unstable, shocked that he'd almost shot a police officer, Judy crossed the space between her and Nikora in an eyeblink, wrangling him to the ground in an academy-approved style as she fumbled for her pawcuffs.

"Nikora Spilos, you are under arrest for suspicion of burglary and theft, for assault on an officer of the law in the discharge of their duty, for suspicion of possession of an unlicensed firearm, and other charges to be determined upon review of our administrative file and other available evidence. 

"You have the right to remain silent, which includes refusal to answer any and all questions posed to you by any officer of the law. Choosing to waive this right in relation in any one instance does not invalidate your right to invoke it at a later point, but all statements you make may be entered into the record as evidence against you. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be assigned to you. Your counsel will be provided a full accounting of the charges against you within 48 hours, or you will be released until such time as an accounting can be made. If indicted, you will be judged by a jury of your peers. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?"

"If I say no, will you let me go?"

Judy snapped the pawcuffs on. "No." She tried to tug Nikora up, but grunted with the effort as he shifted only slightly. "What - what's in your bag?"

"That's illegal search and seizure!"

"I'm well within my rights to make sure there's no bomb or whatever in here." Judy unzipped the top of the bag. Her eyes widened. "That is...not a bomb."

Nick pushed himself to his feet, surprised to find that while still aching, he could move. He joined Judy, and fought the urge to whistle. There couldn't be less than thirty pounds of gold jewelry packed into the bag, and odds were good the burgled jewelry store owners would identify it as their inventory.

"Now, I know you might decide not to answer this, but where did you get ahold of this much jewelry?"

"I want my lawyer."

Nick sighed. "Of course you do. Let's get you downtown."

Nick found Judy, hours later, running through the security video from EZ-Hoard. Fifteen minutes before Nick and Judy had arrived, static danced across the ground-level cameras, the defect migrating up to the sixth floor where it lingered long enough for someone to empty Unit 689. There was no clear record of their confrontation, or of Nikora's attempt to murder Nick. She was rewinding it again when Nick put a paw on her shoulder, and she nearly leapt out of her seat.

"Nick! You scared me!" But Judy was smiling, gently, eyes a little moist.

"I thought you'd hear me, with those big ears of yours."

"Shut up." Judy wiped at her eyes and gestured at the screen. "I was watching the footage."

"Such as it is," Nick said. "Find anything?"

" _No_. Not this one, not the other tapes. And without those, even if we can prove he was at the crime scenes, we can't prove he was there when the thefts happened."

"And? The DA said she can get him on possession of stolen property. And assault with a deadly weapon, Hopps...that little cuscus is going to jail for a long time."

"I know he did it, Nick, but I still don't know _how_." Judy hit the seat of her chair with her paw.

Nick rubbed absent-minded at Judy's shoulder. "Like we figured, he knows security cameras, found some trick. Just because Mikaere can't figure it out doesn't mean it was magic."

"Then what happened back at the EZ-Hoard? He ran right by me, and I didn't see anything!"

Nick rapped the top of Judy's head. "Come on, I've seen cheetahs disappear in the parks down in Savannah Central. It's all shading. It was dark, you were distracted - I'll forgive it because you showed up just in time to keep him from putting a hole in my chest."

"Yeah," Judy said quietly. She was still staring at the screen, however, so Nick tugged her up an inch by her shoulder.

"But now is not the time to worry about it. Ben promised us the first round of drinks at the Snakehole Lounge."

Judy snorted, but began packing up the tapes and her notes. "Do foxes only ever think with their stomachs?"

"No; sometimes we think with our livers. Come on."

So Nick dragged Judy off for celebratory drinks, which he counted as a win.


	7. Chapter 7

Nikora Spilos _hated_ magic.

Obviously, he'd grown up around tales of magic - dragons and unicorns and sorcerers - and imagined living in a world like that.

But discovering _real_ magic was as disappointing as growing up had been - finding that there were rules and limitations and _qualifiers_ to something that had once seemed liberating and full of infinite possibilities.

Obviously, it was hard. Or so Nikora presumed; finding someone who knew anything about it was nigh-impossible, and someone who was _good_ at it…

And even setting that aside, people who were good at magic were _crazy_. It came, Nikora supposed, of living in a world where things other mammals said were impossible were commonplace. It made you discount pretty much everything other mammals said to you.

But the real problem with magic...was the rules.

Without the knack for it, magic required a trade. _Equivalent exchange_ , which meant that the ability to open doors, to slip through the shadows unseen, to be invisible even to electronic eyes was worth Nikora's weight in gold...or his freedom.

And the worst of it seemed that magic was _lazy_. Rather than giving Nikora time to figure out the whole thing, it'd seen an opportunity to get its price and stuck him in here for the rest of his natural life. And not even for the robberies, which they hadn't even bothered to indict him for. No, it was for shooting some dumb bunny, which he hadn't even meant to do. Not even shooting her, shooting _at_ her. He couldn't remember the scene exactly, he'd been so panicked, but there hadn't even been a scar on that rabbit's head at trial.

But...there was a silver lining to all this.

The price _had_ been paid. Nikora couldn't escape, of course - he'd gotten a few weeks of extra scrutiny after his discovery that magic _knew_ when he was trying to steal and when he was trying to escape, and didn't help out when his heart wasn't set on larceny.

But he was a master thief, now, imprisoned or not. At first, it was for entertainment, and then…

There was an economy in here, a society. It was twisted and full of a more direct and less discriminating form of justice than the world outside. But a mammal with talents could find a place there.

It wasn't ideal, obviously, but it was worth something. And in five to ten years, when he bet he could wrangle some sort of chance at parole, he'd still be an impossible thief, and the world would be his oyster.

Because no matter what his patron, the strange masked mammal with a talent for magic, said, the world wasn't ending any time soon.


End file.
